"Rightly Handling"

Do any of you like to play with knives? Some people actually do, so it is a valid question. Most of the people who like to play with knives are not actually "playing" they are using them as tools, or practicing throwing them at targets. Yet, we all would admit that knives are dangerous. Would it be a good idea to have a novice who does not know how to handle knives throwing them around carelessly? Of course not.

It is interesting that the Scriptures refer to the words of God (i.e. the Scriptures refer to the Scriptures!) as "sharper than a two edged sword". Scripture is like a knife: useful when you know how to handle it, but very dangerous. This is why it is actually a dangerous thing to quote Scripture. Some non-catholics like to imagine that if they read the Bible a lot that they have the skill to quote it. That is like someone who believes that since he uses a knife every day to put butter on his toast that he knows how to throw a knife at a target accurately.

Here is an example of how big of a mistake people can make when they quote a Scripture passage that they memorized. Someone once criticized Catholics because we believe that Sunday is special and that the Church can declare holy days of obligation. He believed that it was a sin to observe any day as more important than another (of course, this did not apply to his birthday, anniversary, July 4th, veteran's day, etc.). He claimed that the Bible teaches this and quoted it to prove his point.

The quotation was accurate, but his interpretation of the passage was awful. If his interpretation were correct then that would mean that the Bible contradicts itself (and it does not). He quoted St. Paul in the book of Galatians where he criticizes the churches for "observing days, and months, and seasons, and years". Yes, St. Paul was concerned with the behavior of the churches in Galatia. He also criticizes the church in Colossae and tells them not to judge others "with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath".

These two quotes show clearly that St. Paul wanted those christians to stop what they were doing. Yet, that is not all that St. Paul says about celebrating one day over another. In the book of Romans we read:

One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike. Let every one be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord...None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

No, the wonderful Saint is not contradicting himself. He is (probably unintentionally) showing us that it is dangerous to play with the "two edged sword" of the Scriptures. He is speaking to three different groups of people, dealing with three different situations, who need counsel for their specific circumstances. Thus, he gives advice and admonition to each of them as they need it. The churches in Galatia did not need the counsel which was intended for the church in Rome. Each needed a specific word from God, and St. Paul knew what that was and provided it accordingly.

If we pull out a verse of Scripture and throw it around to support our personal opinion (like throwing a knife at a person) someone is going to get hurt. All three passages together make it clear that is not wrong to recognize one day as more important than another, but if we were to give in to a misapplication of the concept of special days, or holidays (like the ancient Jews did), then we can misunderstand the right way to acknowledge the importance of allowing a day to remind us of a great act of God; which is what faithful Jews (like Jesus Himself!) did before the coming of Christ. An overemphasis on calendar celebrations can always throw us off the path of righteousness (just like any other overemphasis).

Let us take note, and be cautious about quoting Scripture. We can read it, and gain from it; there is no doubt about that. Yet, when we seek to use it to instruct others, it is important to handle it with respect and caution. It is "hard to understand" (which is what St. Peter said about St. Paul's writings!) and can easily be misrepresented if we do not have a deep understanding of it. Even St. Paul warned Bishop Timothy: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)."